Sfi 269 
H62 

'Opy J 



Hawaiiarp 



Goffee 



Planters' 



Msnaal. 




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Pploe SO Cetits, 



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THK HA^W^AIIAISI 



mm PLANTERS' MANUAL. 



With Notes of the Methods of Coffee Culture 

practised in Guatemala, Brazil, 

Liberia and Ceylon, 




EDITED BY H. M WHITNEY. 



HONOLULU : 

Hawahan Gazbttb Company's Pkess. 

1894. 



1 



PREFACE. 



This little manual has been prepared in response to numerous inquiries for 
information regarding coffee cultivation in these islands. Many excellent books 
on coffee have been published abroad which give a full history of its cultivation 
from the earliest period when its virtue as a beverage became known; but these, 
although valuable in a planter's library, do not supply the information specially 
sought for here. Most of this has to be obtained by personal application and ex- 
perience. The object of this pamphlet is to briefly lay before the inquirer the 
methods of cultivation practiced here and in other lands, and to serve as a guide — 
experience and practice doing the rest. 

But planters should bear in mind that in coffee planting, as much or more 
than in cane planting, thorough and careful work from the start is the only sure 
road to success. No matter whether it be five or fifty acres planted each year, the 
best preparation of the soil, the best seed, and the best plants, planted in the best 
way, will, if properly cultivated and cared for, repay the most profit in the end, and 
become a perpetual source of income, not only to the pioneer but to his successors. 

Lands suitable for coffee are located on each of the five islands of this group, 
but it is difficult to purchase those that may be deemed the best located, owing to 
their being under lease. The Government is bringing suitable coffee lands into 
service, as the terms of lease expire, and occasionally sales in fee simple are made 
at public auction or otherwise. More of these lands will be opened to settlers in 
the near future, as special efforts are being made to this end. It is also probable 
that the public roads around the island of Hawaii, the lack of which is a source of 
great annoyance to settlers, will soon be improved. 

It may be added here for the encouragement of those engaging in this indus- 
try that, by a law enacted Dec. 2, 1892, all coffee and ramie produced in this coun- 
try, and all mills, machinery, appliances, tools, and buildings used exclusively in 
the care, cultivation, or preparation of coffee or ramie for market are exempted 
from all taxes and import duties for ihe term of ten years. 



-,t>a- 



>i 






INDEX 



Altitudes Best for Coffee 12, 24 

Brazillian Coffee Crops 19, 21 

Brazil, Coffee Culture in 19 

Bauanas Planted among Coffee for 8hade 14 

Best Locations for Coffee Planting 13, 43 

Blight on Coffee 1, in Ceylon, 40-41, 45 

Best Size and Age for Transplanting 6 

Coffee Culture in Mexico 11 

" " Guatamala 18, 46 

Brazil 19 

" " Liberia 23 

Ceylon 33 

" " Madras 27 

Hilo 39, Kona, Kau, Puna, 39, 40, 42 

*' " Hawaii 43 

Cleaning Coffee in Brazil 23 

Cost of Coffee Trees in Mexico 12 

" " Plantation 47, 48 

Curing Coffee in Liberia 30 

Coffee Bearing, when it commences 17 

Coffee Trees to the Acre 48 

Dibbling, How Done 7 

Distances Apart for Planting 17, 23, 35, 42, 43 

Drying Coffee in Brazil 22 

the Best Process 25 27 

Elevation, Best for Coffee 24, Liberian, 28 

Estimate for Coffee Plantation 47, 48 

Forsyth's Report on Coffee Planting on Hawaii 38 46 

Gathering Coffee in Brazil 21 

Grubs, How to prevent them 3 

German Settlers in Guatemala 19 

Gordon's Coffee Machines 25, 26, 27 

How to Plant Coffee in Hawaii 42 

Harvesting, When it should be done 10 

Handling or Searching, What it is 9 10 

Hillside Coffee Planting in Brazil 20 

Irrigation, sometimes necessary 14 

Insects and Diseases of Coffee, Signs of 17 

Kona and Kau Coffee 39,40 



Lands for Coffee 2, 43 

Liberian Coffee 23. 27, 28, 35, 38 

" " Advantages of 28-29 

" Free from Blight 32 

-aiocha Coffee 21,23 

Machines for Coffee Cleaning 23, 25-26, 27 

Nurseries, How prepared 2, 5, 20, 34-35 

Number of Seeds in Bushel 4, 34 

Overripe Coffee Cherries 11 

Obstacles in Coffee Planting 45 

Planting Coffee in Nurseries 4, 5, 15, 21, 24, 43, 44 

Planting in Quincunx Rows in Mexico, etc 13, 21-24 

Planting Bananas, Corn, etc., between rows 14, 21-36 

Pioneer Coffee Planting on Kauai, etc 1 

Pinching off Sprouts and Suckers — When 16 

Pruning Trees— How and when 8, 10, 17, 37 

Picking and Curing Coffee 22, 29 

Peeler and Polishing Machines 26 

Picking Liberian Coffee 30 

Preparing Coffee for Market 22 

Pulping Machine 25 

Profits of Coffee Culture 11, 43 

Soil Best for Coffee 2,12.13,18,20,24,34 

Seeds, How selected and pi mted 3, 4, 33 

Stumping Coffee Trees for Planting 3 

Staking, when necessary 7 

Shade for Coffee Trees 7, 8, 39 

Suckers and Shoots, to be removed 7, 9, 16 

Seeds, Number of to the acre .... 4, 34 

Transplanting Coffee Trees 3, 6, 15, 16, 35 

Topping, when and how practiced 9, 24, 87 

Treatment of Coffee in Bearing 36 

Table of Plants to the Acre 48 

Value of Liberian Coffee 27, 28 

Wages and Expenses in Mexico 12 

Yield of Coffee 25,31 

Yield of Liberian Coffee 33 



Coffee Plarpter's ]V[anaaI 



Coffee has grown on each of the Hawaiian Islands for the 
past sixty or seventy years, and wherever planted and well 
cared for, it has generally yielded abundantly. On Oahu, Mr. 
Manini had a grove of trees at the head of Pauoa valley, and 
Chinamen also had another grove at the head of Manoa 
valley. On Kauai, several foreigners — including Messrs. 
Rhodes, Titcomb and Wundenberg — located at Hanalei, and 
made preparations to establish large plantations at Hanalei, 
which appeared to be a most favorable locality for the busi- 
ness. The trees grew finely and during the cropping season 
their plantations afforded as handsome a sight, with their 
bright green leaves, white flowers, and red berries, as was 
ever witnessed in any cofi'ee country. But the blight came 
and invaded the valley, killed the trees and compelled those 
engaged in the enterprise to abandon it, and seek some either 
venture. And yet coffee trees may be found to-day, in many 
of the vallies of that island, bearing abundant crops. Had as 
much been known then about the antidotes to the blight as 
is now known, possibly these early efforts might have proved 
more "Successful. 

The same experience with the blight was encountered in 
Kona, Hawaii, some years later, which discouraged those in- 
terested in coffee cultivation, but owiiag to the higher eleva- 
tion of the lands there cultivated, many of the trees escaped 
permanent injury, and have continued to bear irregularly, 
and in some places to yield better crops than in others. Sev- 
eral years ago, there were a number of large trees on the 
premises of the Catholic mission at H.ilea, Kau, which bore 
abundantly, and were rarely without berries. In size the 
trees were over thirty feet high, and always appeared healthy 



and thrifty, iiiclicatiiig that some localities are better suited 
than others for their eultivation. 

As much attention is now beinoj paid to coffee culture, and 
many inquiries are made respecting locations and methods 
for starting in this branch of industry, the following. pages 
have been compiled to furnish information to such as have 
had no experience in this lousiness. In minor details, proba- 
bly no two phmters will agree exactly regarding the best 
course to pursue ; but it is clear that with a full knowledge 
of the latest and best methods practiced in coffee countries, 
any person engaging in this pursuit cannot fail to meet with 
success, if he uses ordinary judgment in carrying out the 
details. It must not be forgotten, however, that the coffee 
tree ret|uires four years of care and culture, to bring it to the 
bearing age. when the crops will annually increase, in pro- 
portion to the care which has been bestowed on them ; and 
during this four years' term the planter should have some 
means of supporting himself and his enterprise, without em- 
barrassment. And it is well to remember at the start that 
a small farm well tilled will be more profitable than a large 
one poorly kept. 

Suitable land is not always obtainable by purchase, nor 
even by lease on a long term ; but if secured in the latter 
way, in some cases it can be purchased before the term of 
lease expires, and such privilege should always be provided 
for, when possible. Some government lands now leased, can 
no doubt be purchased by the holders, as it is the intention 
of the government to make such provision. After securing 
the land, the first work in the line of cultivation will be to 
start the young plants, and just here the planter should- make 
sure that he follows the best experience — such as has been 
tried and proved successful in other countries. To this end 
the following pages are devoted: 

Nurseries.— For this purpose a patch of gently sloping 
virgin soil should be selected, warm and dry, but close to 
water, soft, and not richer than that to which the plants will 
be subse([uently transferred. The seed beds may be some- 
what shaded, but not so as to entirely exclude the sun, nor so 
that the shading tree gathers rain and sends it in streams up- 
on the beds. The seed-bed is cleared of all but the largest 



stumps, thoroughly dug to a depth of nine to twelve inches, 
and made very friable. The beds are slightly raised to pro- 
mote drainage, and are divided by paths into narrow strips. 
A deep trench is cut above the bed in an oblique direction, to 
prevent damage by rain and wash. 

The seeds are sown in rows six to nine inches apart and 
about two inches deep. The seeds are strewn about one inch 
apart, lightly covei'ed with mould, and shaded; a cheap and 
efficient shading may be secured by laying branches across a 
light framework. Watering must be done in the morning, or 
toward sunset. A bushel of seeds should give 20,000 to 25,000 
of good plants. 

The nurseries proper are prepared much in the same w^ay, 
but not shaded. When the plants have two to four leaves 
(exclusive of the seed leaves) they are carefully loosened, and 
transplanted, in damp, cloudy w^eather, from the seed-beds to 
the nurseries, and placed ten to twelve inches apart. Care 
must be taken not to double up the tap-root, and not to leave 
a space for water to accumulate and rot the roots. If the 
tap-root is very long, it is best shortened by an oblique cut, 
and it soon shoots again. 

When transplanting from seed-beds to nurseries is not 
practiced, the plants are left in the seed-beds until larger; but 
the best authorities strongly recommend the former pkm, as, 
by checking the growth, the young wood becomes hardened, 
and better able, when finally planted out, to resist insects and 
unfavorable weather. 

A practical suggestion for preventing young seedlings being 
eaten off* at the surface of the ground by grubs, is to lightly 
wrap around a piece of paper about three inches broad, where 
the stem joins the root, on planting. In about a year the 
plants are ready for transfer to the permanent estate, which 
is meantime being prepared for their reception. 

It is remarked by Hull that in Ceylon, abundant supplies 
of coffee plants of all sizes are generally to be found growing- 
wild in the forests. These plants having grown up in the 
shade, are generally lanky and straggling, and consequently 
require, before being planted out on the estate, to be "stumped,' 
i.e., cut down within six inches above the roots. These stumps 
are then very independent, and usually come on well, throw- 



ing out shoots within three or four weeks from the time they 
are put in the ground. The best size of stumps is the thick- 
ness of a common pencil, these throw out shoots and take 
root more quickly than larger plants, while those that are 
younger and thinner are more liable to be burnt up by the 
sun, should the season be more than usually dry. When 
plants can be obtainable in this way, a nursery is but little 
required; but in case the planter should not be so fortunate 
as to find his wants thus supplied, it will be advisable to be- 
gin making a nursery at once. The best time of the year for 
this is when you can get fresh coffee seeds from the new crop. 

A bushel contains about 25,000 berries of cherry coffee, and 
as most berries contain two beans, the number of seeds will 
not be far from 50,000; but allowing 50 per cent, for pea- 
berries and imperfect beans, about 25,000 plants should be 
obtained in the nursery from one bushel of parchment. 

Seeds should be selected as far as possible from healthy 
trees only, and should not be picked until fully ripe. The 
seeds are better not washed, but may be shaken up with wood 
ashes to dissolve the saccharine pulp adhering to them, and 
thus prevent fermentation. They should then be slightly 
dried, when they will be ready for the nursery. 

The seed-beds should be dug up to the depth of a foot, all 
roots and stones being picked out. The surface must be nicely 
smoothed over, when the beans may be placed in straight drills 
and at equal distances from each other, being then slightly 
covered with fine mould. Over this a layer of rotten leaves 
may be spread two inches thick, the bed being then well 
watered at least one every three days, if the weather is dry. 
In about six weeks the seeds will begin to force their way 
above the ground and to send a root downwards, and the layer 
of decayed leaves may then be gently and carefully removed. 

Where the nursery is made in virgin soil, manure will be 
unnecessary, and indeed is better dispensed with, as being 
calculated to introduce grubs likely to prey upon the seeds; 
but in old nurseries, after the first year or two, manure will 
be required. 

The seeds may be put in about one inch apart at first, the 
plants being afterwards, as they increase in size, thinned out. 
The beds should not be more than three and one-half or four 



feet wide, so that a person standing on either side may be 
able easily to reach the centre, vvithont stepping off the foot 
path. Weeds can thus be easily pulled out, and the beds 
watered without any mischief being done. They may be 
either raised above the level of the surrounding paths, or the 
reverse, each method having its advantages in different local- 
ities. In damp situations the beds should be raised for dryness, 
while in very hot localities they should be depressed in order 
that they may retain, as much as possible, of the moisture 
they receive. Some planters prefer beds made perfectly level 
•and surrounded by raised borders or "bunds" to admit of their 
being irrigated at pleasure. The drawbacks to this method, 
however, are, that the rush of water when it is let in carries 
the seeds in a heap before it, and also that the water after 
subsiding is apt to leave the ground hard and stiff. When 
once the plants have taken root and are well above ground, 
irrigation is the cheapest and most expeditious method of 
supplying them with moisture, and is not so objectionable 
except where the soil is inclined to be stiff and clayey. 

If the plants are intended to stay in the nursery for a 
second or third season, they should be allowed space, and be 
at least three or four inches apart. If grown in straight rows 
at right angles, it will always be easy to ascertain the number 
of plants in each bed by measurement. Thus a bed three 
and one-half feet wide by twenty-eight feet long, with plants 
at four inches apart, would contain about 1200, or sufficient 
to cover an acre, planted at six feet by six feet. 

The soil of the nursery is just as w^ell not fo he too rich, other- 
wise the plants will be apt to suffer from the change if put 
out into one of poorei quality. Some planters are strongly 
of opinion that the seedlings should be brought up in the 
same soil as that in which they are afterwards to dwell, and 
that, consequently, plants brought from a distance are less 
promising than those raised on the spot. 

Planting. — When the holes have been duly prepared, the 
young plants are removed from the nurseries with the same 
care as they were transplanted to the nurseries from the seed- 
beds. For taking up the plants, an ordinary prong is much 
superior to the spade-bar; handpulling must be rigidly guard- 
ed against. The fibrous roots of each plant, as taken up, are 



6 

carefully pruned off to about four inches, so that they may 
not de doubled up in the planting; the tap-root is also short- 
ened to about nine inches by a deep sloping cut, for the same 
reason. A ball of earth should surround the roots, and if the 
plants are to be exposed to the air for more than a few 
minutes, the roots shonld be covered with wet moss or some 
other damp material. 

A dull cloudy sky should be chosen whenever possible; in 
bright sunshine the plants would all be burnt up. The plants 
are carried in batches on trays to the estate. They are placed 
in the ready prepared holes by hand, great care being taken 
that no roots are doubled up, that the plants are upright, and 
that thsy are no deeper in the ground than they were before. 
In treading the earth round the plant, every precaution is 
necessary to prevent leaving holes for the accumulation of 
water round the roots. The surface should be made firm and 
as level as possible. On a steep slope, the outer edge may be 
made slightly higher than the inner to check the effect of 
wash; but in subsequent weeding, it will be necessary to guard 
against exposing the lateral roots. 

There is some diversity of opinion as to the size and age 
most suitable for putting out nursery plants. When dull 
rainy weather can be depended on for some little time, nursery 
plants of the second year are the most satisfactory. Plants 
of one season only are two tender for the operation. Under 
ordinary conditions, and with due care, no serious loss of 
plants should be incurred in this way. 

A novel plan, which may be advantageously adopted in 
small plantations, is one resembling the method of planting 
cinchona. A number of calabashes are deprived of their small 
end and emptied of their contents; into these the seedlings 
are placed, gradually exposed to the sun as they grow, and 
finally planted in the calabashes; the latter soon rot and 
form manure for the plants. 

A plan that has been much followed, is the substitution of 
"stumps" for nursery plants. Plants that have been in the 
nursery for about three years are dug up and pruned back, 
leaving only about six to eight inches of stem. They are 
hardier and safer, in a general way, than whole plants, more 
especially in uncertain weather. They will strike readily, 



even without rainfall for some little time after beinu- put in, 
provided the ground has become sufficiently moist to prevent 
their being burnt up; but they can not be used with success 
in districts where a long period of drought may be expected 
to succeed the wet season. The planting is performed in 
the usual way. The plants send up several shoots from the 
parent stem; of these the finest is retained to form the future 
tree, and the rest are pulled off carefully. The shoot that is 
left grows rapidly, but from the way it springs from the stem 
it is liable to be accidentally broken off, either by a high wind 
or by the weeders. The crookedness of the stems of stumps 
from native grown seed renders them very inferior; the best 
size for stumps is the thickness of a common pencil. 

Dibbling. — Where the land is very rich and frialile, holing 
may be replaced by the less expensive plan called "dibbling." 
It is performed in two ways:—!. By the aid of the spade-bar 
is made a sufficiently deep hole, into which the plant is drop- 
ped, and secured by treading the earth lightly around. 2. A 
patch of ground measuring about one foot each way is 
thoroughly loosened, without the soil being taken away; in 
the disturbed earth a hole is made with the hand, the plant 
is inserted and trodden around as before. The latter method 
is preferred. Dibl)ling is only practicable in exceptional 
cases. It is, moreover, open to objection, as a hole is often 
left, in which water accumulates and rots the plant, and the 
roots are more liable to injury than in ordinary planting. On 
the other hand, very much labor is saved. 

Staking. — When the plants are exposed to wind, they 
should be provided with supports as soon as they are ten or 
twelve inches high, and present a resisting surface. In 
moderately sheltered situations, staking combined with their 
low topping ought to be sufficient to secure the stability of 
the plant; where they are not, the situation has little to 
recommend it for coffee culture. 

Shade. — This is a consideration of great importance, and 
the opinion now generally adopted is, that the wholesale 
felling of the forest, in some places, has been altogether a 
mistake, and plantations which are now extinct might 
still be flourishing, had the forest shade been, at least, 
partially retained. 



The history of coffee cultivation in the East proves that, 
in hot climates, and where prolonged seasons of drought 
may recur, coffee will not flourish pei'nianently, except under 
shade. In a state of nature, the plant almost universally 
affects shade; this is the more remarkable that the seeds are 
deposited by wild animals and birds as freely on open grass 
lands as in forests. A suspicion that the borer, leaf-disease, 
and other immediate causes of decay, are only induced by the 
weakened state of the shrubs, consequent upon their ex- 
posure to lengthened periods of drought, is supported by the 
fact that where shade trees are found standing upon an 
abandoned estate, they are surrounded by a surviving rem- 
nant of coffee bushes. 

The question as to where shade is necessary is one of 
climate; it is not universally beneficial. The advantages 
to be derived from it in very hot climates, are; Diminished 
exhaustion, and consequently increased longevity of the 
plant; reduced cost of cultivation; a conservation of the 
nutritious properties of the soil, and an actual increase of 
them, as the cover given to the ground causes the surface 
vegetable matter to decay more rapidly; and, provided the 
shade-furnishing tree be a subsoil feeder, the shedding of its 
leaves will yield a positive gain of surface matter, which the 
roots of the coffee tree would otherwise never have reached. 
The only drawback to shade would seem to be a diminished 
yield of coffee; but this is atoned for by the increased lon- 
gevity of the plants. 

Pruning. — The kind of pruning first required l)y coffee 
bushes is that known as '"topping." The age and height at 
which this operation is performed depend in a great measure, 
upon local circumstances; the question is also a much debat- 
ed one. The object of topping or removing the top of the 
bush, is to restrain its upward growth within convenient 
limits, and, as a natural consequence, to strengthen and con- 
centrate its lateral growth. 

Accoi'ding to Sabonadiere, topping is commenced, in 
Ceylon, at the age of twelve to eighteen months, the max- 
imum height being four feet, sometimes being reduced to 
two feet. He prefers to postpone the operation till the 
shrubs have borne the maiden crop, even though extra stak- 



9 

ing is required to withstand the wind. His plan is to remove 
the two primaries at the required height, by a sloping out- 
ward cut close to the stem, and then to remove the top by 
an oblique cut, so that the stumps resemble a cross, and a 
firm natural knot remains to guard against the stem splitting 
down. 

Some planters contend that the plants should be topped as 
soon as they have reached the required height, when the soft 
wood is easily severed by a pinch between the finger and the 
thumb. In Natal, the shrubs are topped either at their full 
heiglit four and half to five feet, or at three feet, allowing a 
sucker to grow up on the weather side to complete the 
height. The latter plan is preferred. There is much advan- 
tage gained in limiting the height to five feet; not only is the 
crop gathered more easily and without damage to the tree, 
but it is actually heavier, and the shrubs are more readily 
made to cover the ground. 

The first result of topping is to induce the growth of a 
number of shoots, the removal of which is called "handling" 
or "searching."' The first to appear are vertical suckers or 
"gorraandisers" from under the primary boughs; these are 
immediately rubbed off without injuring the bark. From the 
primaries, spring secondary branches, in pairs, and at very 
short intervals. All such appearing within six inches of the 
of the main stem are removed at once, so that a passage 
of, at least, one foot is left in the centre of the tree, 
for the admission of air and sun. The object of pruning is to 
divert the energies of the tree from forming wood, and to 
concentrate them upon forming fruit. The fruit of the cof- 
fee tree is borne by young wood; and as the secondaries are 
reproduced when removed, they are cut off as soon as they 
have borne, and a constant succession of young wood is thus 
secured. In order that this may be regular, and to avoid 
weakening the shrub, the secondaries that grow outside of 
the foot space are left on alternate sides of the primaries, 
their opposites being removed each year in turn; thus one is 
growing while the other is bearing. 

The one point in view must be the equal development of 
the tree, and the yearly growth of as much as it will bear, 
but no more. Branches must not be allowed to grow^ into or 



10 

cross each other; if two or more secondaries sprins^ from one 
spot, the strongest only must he retained; where a gap 
occurs, tertiaries may be trained to till it, in the same way. 
When practical, the bushes should be "handled" twice be- 
fore the crop; and the pruning should be commenced im- 
mediately after the crop and finished before the blossom 
comes out. Should that be impossible, it must be suspended 
during the three or four days of blossom time, and then be 
carried to completion. When it is evident that the crop of 
a tree will exhaust it if allowed to mature, a portion of it 
must be sacrified by pruning. The loss thus occasioned is 
more apparent than real. In very prolific seasons, much 
fruit is wasted for lack of labor, and the trees are unneces- 
sarily overtaxed, and bear poorly for sometime afterwards. 
Everything should be done to ensure regular and even crops 
before removal. 

Regular and systematic pruning is one of the first essen- 
tials to successful coffee culture; where plantations have 
been neglected on this score, they must be very gradually re- 
duced to proper condition, by sawing out the cross branches, 
and opening up the centre of the trees, in the first year, and 
thinning out half the remaining wood, in the second year. 

Harvesting.— The clusters of Inids which duly make their 
appearance are, at first, little dark green spikes, as they grow 
they become straw-colored, then under the influence of a 
few showers, almost white, and finally burst into snowy 
blossoms. After a day or two the flowers turn brown and 
fade away, the more gradually, the better. While the bloom 
is out, rainfall is unwelcome; but after it has "set," a shower 
is beneficial. The pistils of the flowers soon assume the form 
of berries, gradually growing and changing their color from 
dark-green to light-yellow, w/iich finally deepens to red. As 
soon as a sprinkling of red berries is seen, picking should 
begin; it will continue as long as any berries ripen, say two 
to three months. The berries, or rather cherries, must not 
be picked until fully ripe, as indicated by a deep purplish- 
crimson color. 

As the crop rarely or never ripens all at once, two or three 
pickings are required, the second being the principal one, 
while the others are rather gleanings. Each mature cherry 



11 

should be picked separately off its stalk, and never stripped 
off'; the cherries as picked are dropped into a small bajj^, say 
eighteen inches square, suspended from the neck; these bags 
are emptied into two and a half or two bushels sacks placed at 
intervals, on the paths. 

If allowed to get overripe, in wet weather the cherries are 
liable to burst and drop the beans, or to fall off bodily; on 
clean ground, much may be recovered. In hot weather, the 
cherries are more likely to dry up and hold on to the trees. 
In order to convey the cherries to the curing house, a great 
saving is effected, in long distances, by running them with 
water down galvanized iron spouting, made in eight feet 
lengths, laid with even gradients and cui-ves, and duly secur- 
ed. The cherries are dispatched from cisterns, to which the 
due proportion of water is admitted; provision is made for 
collecting and utilizing the latter at the works. 



As it may be instructive and of interest to the readers of 
this pamphlet to know how coffee trees are cultivated in 
other countries, the following extracts are inserted, having 
been culled from recent reports of American consuls resident 
in Mexico, Guatamala, Brazil and other countries: 



COFFEE CULTURE IN MEXICO. 



In regard to coffee i-aising in Mexico, Maj. J. D. Warner, of 

the city of Mexico, says, in the Mexican Trader, under j-ecent 

date : 

Coffee raising in Mexico is yet in its infancy, but it pays from 100 
to 200 per cent, on the capital invested, the Mexican coffee being of a 
superior quality and ranking among the best in the world. Coffee is 
worth at present, at the plantation, 20 cents per pound, while the 
annual cost of production averages oidy 7 cents per pound, the coffee 
being sold for cash only, and never commissioned out to find a market. 
Good coffee land with an exceptional title can be bought for from $5 
to $100 an acre, according to location and condition, and an acre will 
grow 600 to 1000 ti-ees. 

He states that the coffee plantations of Mexico are never 
attacked by any disease or parasite ; but in a document pub- 
lished by the Department of Industry and Commerce of that 
country, in 1883, among other insects injurious to the coffee 



12 

plant, one, the (jaUina ciega, is mentioned as attacking the 
roots and doincr much damage to the plant. 

The altitude recommended fou the establishment of plant- 
ations is from 1000 to 3000 feet above the level of the sea, 
and such localities are the healthiest to be found iii the 
tropics, being above the level where yellow fever and mala- 
rious diseases usually prevail. 

The gathering of the crop is largely done by women and 
children, and labor is not difficult to obtain. Major Warner 
states that the average of wages paid in the coffee raising 
districts is 43| cents per day. 

Senor Romero, Minister of Mexico in the United States, in 
a work on coffee culture published in 1875, estimates the 
cost of each coffee tree, four years from planting, at about 11 
cents, including price of land and wages ; that the tree in its 
fourth year will yield two pounds of coffee, which, at a mini- 
mum price of 10 cents, makes 20 cents per tree. The expense 
of gathering and preparation for market he puts at 5 cents, 
thus leaving a net profit of 15 cents per tree. With 1000 trees 
per acre, the net profit per acre is seen to be $150 for the 
fourth year. The yield increases, ordinarilj^, to the seventh 
or eighth year. 

The following remarks and directions in relation to coffee 
planting in Mexico are taken in substance from the govern- 
ment publication referred to above, and may, with some un- 
important modifications, be applied to the cultivation of 
coffee in all countries that produce it : 

Cultivation in Mexico. — The soil most generally suited for 
coffee plantations is a friable, sandy, or even gravelly, though 
the presence of clay in considerable amount is not objection- 
able, when the drainage is good ; but soils that retain stand- 
ing water, or those formed chiefly of alluvium, while they 
produce vigorous trees, do not yield coffee of good quality. 
The best soils are sufficiently deep to allow the roots to pene- 
trate vertically to a distance of three feet or more, and should 
not rest on a substratum of solid rock or impermeable clay, 
as the moisture would V)e too long retained, and the plants 
injured. For tliis reason it is always advisable, in selecting 
ground for a coffee plantation, to make sure that the above 
conditions, as neai-ly as possible, exist; otherwise disappoint- 
ment and failure raav result. 



13 

It must not be supposed, however, that moisture is not 
necessary for the healthy growth and production of plant and 
fruit; for unless there is abundant moisture afforded by nature, 
in the way of rains and dews, artificial irrigation will be 
needed. The essential thing is that the moisture pass freely 
througli the soil and not be retained standing about the roots 
of the plant. 

The best plantations are made on virgin soil, from wiiich a 
forest growth has been removed by cutting the trees and 
burning the branches and undergrowth on the ground, as the 
ashes are an excellent fei'tilizer, whose properties are lasting. 
Hillsides are usually selected to secure better drainage, and 
eastern exposures are preferred, though not essential to the 
growth of productive plantations. Xext to eastern, the w^est- 
ern slopes are preferable, as on either of these the growing 
plants are not exposed all day to the direct rays of the sun, 
as is the case with northern and southern exposures. 

Many planters are of the opinion that burning over the 
ground injui'es it, and no doubt this is the case if the whole 
forest growth be burned, as is sometimes done, but when 
only the branches of the fallen trees and the undergrowth are 
consumed by the fire, the general opinion is that the ashes 
are valuable as a fertilizer for the cotiee plants. In Brazil, 
the fallen trunks of such trees as make valuable timber are 
sawed by hand by gangs of men, who go about the country 
for that purpose, since saw-mills are scarce, and the transpor- 
tation of the heavy hard-wood logs would be almost impossi- 
ble. Some of these woods are almost as hard as iron, and the 
sawing is difficult and very slow. 

The plants for the future plantation are raised either on 
the spot where they are to grow, or in seed-beds, to be after- 
wards transplanted to their- permanent place. The latter 
mode is that most generally preferred, as by it plants with- 
out defect may be selected, and of uniform size, wdiich is not 
possible under the former system. 

If the former method be chosen, however, the ground, 
cleaned of all growth, is staked off in lines, in which the 
seeds are planted, a few to each hill, at from six to eight feet 
apart. The rows are not so far apart as the hills, for these 
are arranged in the quincunx order — that is, three hills form 
the vertices of an equilateral triangle, two of them being in 



14 
* 
one line and the third, or vertex of the triangle, being in the 
next line. This arrangement gives each plant the same root 
area as to every other one, and in situations when the plough 
can 1)6 used, allows cultivation in three dii-ections. Of course 
the soil where the seeds are deposited must be thoroughly 
and deeply stirred. This is done hy long, sharp spades, made 
especially for the purpose, and the holes are dug some two 
feet square and to about the same depth, in order that the 
roots may easily penetrate the soil in all directions. The 
earth removed from the hole is so replaced that what was at 
the top shall be at the bottom. 

As the young plants need to be protected from the burning 
rays of the sun. banana plants, which are of very rapid 
growth, are set at the centers of the triangular spaces; or, as 
the banana propagates so rapidly and is so difficult to extir- 
pate, when the coffee plants require the whole ground, many 
prefer to plant the wild fig, or some other plant easier to 
eradicate. In Brazil it is usual to plant a kind of tall coarse 
pea, called (juando, which shades the ground effectually, pre- 
vents the soil from washing away, and is allowed to fall and 
decay on the ground. This plant is selected because it is 
rich in potash and affords excellent manure for the growing- 
coffee plants. 

As the ground rarely admits of cultivation with the plow, 
the soil is kept free from weeds by the use of heavy, sharp 
hoes, and the bushes that spring up are cut down with mat- 
tocks or grubbers, all the work being done by hand. During 
the first season, particularly, it is important that all weeds 
and grass be destroyed before going to seed, thus preventing 
new generations from appearing in subsequent years to in- 
crease the labor of cultivation. The burning of the bush on 
the ground, in the preparation of the future plantation, des- 
troys many seeds that w^ould othervvise produce weeds. 

After the seed is planted, if no rain falls, irrigation will be 
necessary to prevent the earth about the germinating seed 
from drying, as in that stage moisture is necessary to the life 
of the embryo plant. Care should be taken that the irri- 
gation be not excessive, as too much water is as injurious as 
too little. After the roots have formed and penetrated deep 
into the soil, the plant resists drought more easily. Of course, 
if several seeds germinate, the most vigorous plant is pre- 



15 

sewed and the rest removed, after a short time, or before the 
roots of various phints have become mingled together, so that 
in removing the others the roots of the one selected to remain 
shall not be distui'bed. 

The pi-opagation of the plants in seed beds, which, as hys 
been said, is the course usually pursued, is as follow^s: A spot 
of ground of the same quality as that of the proposed planta- 
tion is selected; since, if the seed bed be more fertile than the 
soil of the plantation, the young plants will start oft' with a 
vigorous growth, which will be injuriously checked by trans- 
planting to a soil less rich. At the same time, the seed bed 
should not be lacking in the elements of vigorous growth, as 
puny plants rarely become vigorous, even when removed to 
a very fertile soil. Very much, then, depends on a proper 
relation of fertility between the soil of seed bed and that of 
the permanent plantation. 

The location of the bed should be such that it will receive 
the rays of the sun during the forenoon, and remain in com- 
parative shade after midday. The seed bed is thoroughly 
prepared by stirring and inverting the soil, and the seeds may 
be planted in ridges or in boxes set in the ground, having not 
less than ten inches of earth. Seeds that are perfectly sound 
and regular in shape and size should be selected and planted 
about two and a half inches apart. They should be covered 
with vegetable mold to the depth of about three-fourths of an 
inch, and the whole seed bed well sprinkled from a watering 
pot immediately after the planting. 

All grass and weeds must be carefully removed from the 
bed as they appear, and the earth watered whenever it ap- 
pears dry, which is best done late in the afternoon. Fre- 
quent light sprinklings, which keep the soil in an even con- 
dition of moisture, are preferable to profuse watering at long 
intervals, which makes the earth alternately too wet and 
too dry. 

The young plants begin to appear in about a month, and 
in ten or twelve months are ready for transplanting, being, 
at that age, from twelve to sixteen inches high. The banana 
or other plants intended to shade the young coffee trees 
should be set out before the transplanting of the latter, and 
given time to become large enough to furnish shade from 
the first. The cultivation of the new plantation will consist 



16 

* 

in keeping down tbe weeds and grass, and if these should 
grow to considerable size it is better to cut them down, 
allow them to dr}', and burn them in piles, than to cover 
them with earth. Many insects and their eggs, or larvtie, are 
destroyed by the burning, that would not be killed by bury- 
ing them. 

The transplanting is done when the ground is moist from 
recent rains, and if a ball of earth be taken up with the roots 
of the young plant, it will start off more quickly and vigor- 
ously in its new place. If the plants destined to furnish 
shade have not been previously planted, it will be necessary 
to stick a branch with leaves in the ground beside the young 
plant, so as to shade it until it takes new root; but these 
branches should not be left there longer than necessary, as 
they. become the breeding place of insects which are injurious 
to the coffee plant. 

If the roots of the plants are torn in removal, they should 
be cut obliquely and smoothly above the wound. The plants 
can be conveniently carried from the seed bed to the planta- 
tion in large baskets, whose bottoms are covered with moist 
earth. The direct rays of the sun should not be allowed to 
fall on the plants during their transportation and planting. 
The plants should be set at the same depth as in the seed 
bed, and the ground about them watered in the afternoon of 
the day of transplanting. 

In addition to keeping the new plantation free from grass 
and weeds, the suckers or shoots which will push at the base 
of the plant should be removed, as well as all diseased 
branches and such as lie on the ground. Some of the plants 
will die, and these must be replaced by the most vigorous 
ones from the seed bed. 

Some planters think it best to pinch off the terminal buds 
of the top boughs when the plants have reached a height of 
five or six feet. This is to prevent the tree from growing 
too high for the convenient gathering of the berries. Others 
believe that this process injures the quality of the coffee, an 
opinion apparently ill-founded, since the general practice is 
to top the trees, which makes them more stocky and the 
lateral branches stronger. In the forest, surrounded by 
other trees, the coffee tree grows tall and produces but 
little. 



17 

A Mexican authority declares that the cofi'ee tree will not 
bear pruning, but in Brazil and other countries it is freely 
practiced. The distance of the plants from each other varies 
consideralily in different countries and localities. In Costa 
Rica it rs recommended to ,a'ive them a distance of ten feet. 
In Brazil, from ten to twelve feet is the usual distance, while 
in Mexico six, seven or eight feet seems to be preferred. NO' 
doubt the size of the tree at maturity is that which deter- 
mines the proper distance under the system of pruning that 
is practiced. A distance of ten feet in the ((uincunx order of 
planting will give about 500 trees to the acie. 

Generally, if the soil of the plantation is originally of suffi- 
cient fertility, little or no manures will be re(iuiretl, if the 
leaves that fall annually from the trees, and vegetable 
growth that is raised between the rows are turned under the 
soil to decay; but where manures are necessary or desirable, 
the vegetable shouhl be prefened to the animal. Ashes are 
an excellent application, as the coffee plant is a consumer of 
potash. 

If the ground of the plantation is very steep and the soil 
inclined to be washed away, it is better not to keep it too 
clean of grass and weeds, as these retain the earth by their 
roots and stems that lie on the ground; and sometimes 
diagonal ditches must be made to carry off' the excess of 
water moi-e slowly than it would descend the slope if un- 
obstructed. 

Although there are few plants less exposed to the attacks 
of insects and disease, the coffee has certain enemies, both 
animal and fungus, which re(|uire attention, l)ut none of 
these present great difficulties in ovei'coming. A growth of 
moss is probably indicative of too much moisture and a 
generally feeble condition. Very few specific remedies are 
employed against insects, which are rarely very formidable. 

The trees begin to produce in the fourth year, and in the 
seventh reach their full capa<dt3^ A coffee plantation favor- 
ably located and properly cared for will continue in profit- 
able bearing some forty years. 

Mexican coffee is considered to be milder and, in some 
respects, superior to the product of some of the other coffee 
producing countries. 



IS 

Coffee in GuatemaLx\. — The production of coffee in Guate- 
mala i.s steadily, though not rapidly, increasing. In 1887, 
the production was 48,589,267 pounds, and in 1891 the ex- 
ports of coffee reached 293,274,971 pounds. 

The temperature best suited to the healthy growth and 
abundnnt production of the plant in Guatemala is between 
60 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the former being rather too 
cool and the latter too warm for the best results. In the 
lands whose altitude from 1500 to 2000 feet, and where the 
ruling temperature approaches the latter limit, the young 
plants must be shaded, in new plantations, by tall and rapid- 
ly growing plants, otherwise their growth is unhealthy, as is 
betrayed by the small size and yellowish appearance of the 
leaves. 

For the purpose of shading the young trees, the banana is 
very generally employed; as it not only affords abundant 
shade, but produces paying crops of its own. After one or 
two seasons' growth, the coffee plants' need no futher extra- 
neous shade. 

In districts whose mean elevation is 4500 feet, plantations 
must be sheltered from the cold north winds, which, during 
December, January and February, blow almost continuously, 
and destroy plantations exposed to their full force. A range 
of hills to the north of and overlooking the plantation is the 
best natural protection that can be found, but in the absence 
of this, it is customary, when the mercury at night falls to 60 
degrees, to burn heaps of rubbish mixed with pitch on the 
north side of the plantation, and the dense smoke, drifting 
over and through the rows of trees, furnishes complete pro- 
tection from the effects of the cold. 

The scarcity of labor has been, and continues to be, the 
main obstacle to a rapid increase in the coffee product in the 
extensive lands of Guatemala so well suited to the growth of 
the plant. 

The manner of raising the plants and setting them in the 
permanent plantations is almost the same as Mexico, and the 
same cultivation is given to the growing trees. The ciitical 
season for the future crop is the blooming period. A heavy 
rainfall, while the trees are in flower, will seriously damage 
the plants, washing away the pollen and thus preventing 



19 

fructification. This period lasts three or four days, when the 
blossoms fall and the "chen^," as it is called, begins to 
appear. The "cherry" reaches maturity in October and is 
ready for gathering and " pulping'' — that is, for the removal 
of the outer shell and pulp, after which it is washed and 
carried to dry, spread out in In-ick-paved yards exposed to 
the sun. 

The methods employed for the handling of the berries 
after gathering may be greatly improved, and when the 
modern machinery and drying apparatus, such as are used on 
the larger plantations in Brazil, shall have been introduced, 
the Guatemahi product will be greatly improved, both in 
quality and amount. The profit, too, of the culture, in a 
country where laboi" is so scarce, must depend greatly on the 
employment of all means which will economize manual 
labor. 

German settlers have taken up coffee lands to such an ex- 
tent that it is estimated that fully one-fifth of the plantatiors 
are in their hands. 



Coffee in Brazil. — In 1891. the exports of coffee fi'om Kio 
de Janeiro alone were 425,055,000 lbs, valued $42,500,000 at 10 
cents per pound. The exports from Santos are usually about 
one-half of those from Rio, and from these two ports the 
bulk of the coffee sent abroad is exported. The magnitude 
of the coffee growing interests in Brazil, and its importance 
in maintaining the national wealth and credit, may be esti- 
mated when it is considered that the United States alone 
paid to Brazil for her coffee iu 1891 more that $45,000,000. 

The profitable cultivation of coffee in Brazil is confined to 
the four states of Espiritu Santo, Minas-Geraes, Rio de 
Janeiro and Sao Paulo. It is produced as far north as Para 
and in considerable quantities in Ceara, but the yield is less 
and the quality inferior to that of the product of the famous 
zone comprised in the four states just mentioned. The 
growth of coffee culture has been natural and remarkably 
rapid. No favors from the government, such as have been 
given to sugar production, no inducements to immigration 
on the part of national or state governments have contri- 



20 

buted to the remarkable developiuent of this great agricul- 
tural interest; but the natui-al adaptation of the soil and the 
growing demand for this staple have l)een sufh(!ient to in- 
crease its exportation from thirteen bags in 1800 to the 
enormous quantities that annually load the vessels of all 
nations in the ports of Rio and Santos. The facilities for 
transportation from the interior to the coast have been a 
great factor in this increase, no doubt, as well as the moder- 
rate I'ates of freight on the railroads that have their termini 
in these ports. 

The plantations are generally made on hillsides, from 
which the heavy forest growth has been cleared by felling 
the trees and Ijurning off the nndergrowth. The valuable 
logs ai-e sometimes sawed on the spot into boards and planks; 
sometimes burned, after drying, and sometimes allowed to 
lie on the ground and decay. The lattei' method is perhaps 
the l)est, as the logs contain the wealth of the soil accumu- 
lated during years, which is tlius returned to it again. x\s 
the cultivation is done altogether with hoe, spade and mat- 
tock, these decaying trunks are not so much in the way as 
might be supposed. All the vegetal>le growth that can be 
kept on the gi'ound and does not interfere with the growing 
coffee trees aids in preventing the washing away of the mold 
from the soil, which a l)are cultivation would carry off in a 
few years. 

A plantation, properly managed, lasts foi' about thirty 
years in profitable bearing, and by that time the soil is worn 
out, as is attested by the many l)ald, red hills to be found in 
the older cultivated districts of the coffee zone. 

The young plants are sometimes i-aised in seed beds, as 
described in speaking of coffee culture in Mexico: sometimes 
young shoots from the roots of old trees are employed, and 
sometimes the more expensive, but better, method is resorted 
to of raising each plant in a separate eartlien pot, whence, at 
one year old, it is transplanted with all the earth about its 
roots to its permanent location. Ijong rows of these pots 
with their plants, set on a slope, over which water is con- 
stantly I'unning, and protected from the hot rays of the sun 
by matting sti-etched on poles above them, may be seen on 
the plantations where the best methods are employed. The 



21 

system is costly, but about a yeai- is gained in the growth of 
the trees, and the plants, receiving no check by tiansplant- 
ing, rarely need replacing. It has been found advantageous 
aiso to select the very best grains for seed, and some planters 
have succeeded in establishing improved and distinct varie- 
ties, by repeated reproduction from the same kinds of seed. 

Nowhere in the world is greater attention given to the 
cultivation and handling of coffee than in Bi-azil, and no- 
where else is improved machinery for the preparation of the 
crop for market so generally employed, it is the fashion in 
praising the coffee of other countries to describe it as superior 
to the Brazilian, but no permanent advantage is gained by 
nnjust comparisons, for they ai-e against the facts. The truth 
is that no coffee anywhere in the world is superior to the 
Brazilian, which is sold everywhere as Java, Mocha, Mara- 
caibo, etc., at the fancy of the dealer and whim of the con- 
sumer. Every plantation in the conntry produces the Java 
and Mocha of the markets of the United States, and it is only 
an affair of sieves of differently sized meshes to classify the* 
products of Brazilian plantations into the falsely named 
kinds, in order to demand ;i higher price from the buyer. 
These facts cannot be controverted any more than can the 
other truth that no country produces coffee superior to that 
of Brazil. The coffee with a small, round grain, called, 
generally, '"pea-berry." and sold in the United States as 
"Mocha." is produced by topping and severely pruning the 
ordinary plant, although many such grains will always be 
found on trees treated in the usual manner. 

While the young trees are growing, crops of corn or man- 
dioca are sometimes raised between the rows, which are 
planted in the quincunx order, and these crops are some- 
times sufficient to repay the expenses of the plantation. At 
the age of four years the trees are about six feet high and in 
profitable bearing. The principal gathering month is Nov- 
ember, and then every available hand is engaged in picking 
the bei-ries in baskets. The average result of a day's gather- 
ing for each person is enough to produce about fifty pounds 
of dried coffee. The baskets are emptied of their contents 
into carts which convey the berries to the mill-house, where 
they are to be prepared for market. 



22 

• 

The berry resembles very closely the cranberry, and con- 
tains two grains with their flattened sides toward each other. 
Each of the two is covered with a closely adhering membrane 
eddied pciyaiiilnJio, and outside ot this is a thicker and more 
loosely fitting coat called vasquinho. The two grains with 
their coverings are contained in a tough shell called ra.sro, 
and this is surrounded by a white pulp and outer skin, thus 
forming the berry. 

To f)repare the coffee for market, all these coverings must 
be removed, T'he outer pulp is removed, after maceration in 
water, by a machine called despol/xxloi; which consists of a 
revolving iron cylinder set with teeth and covered on one 
side by a concave sheet of metal. 

A trough lined with cement is placed on a hillside above 
the mill, and through it a stream of water is kept running. 
Into this the coffee berries are thrown and are carried down 
by the stieam into a large vat. In this vat the heavier l^er- 
ries sink to the bottom, whence they are drawn off through a 
.pipe to the (lespolixKlor. This machine removes the pulp, the 
berries passing with the water to another vat beyond. In 
this the water is kept in constant motion by a revolving 
wheel, and the pulp is thus tlioroughly washed off and carried 
away with water, while the coffee grains sink to the bottom: 
and thence passing to a strainer the water is all drained off, 
leaving them ready for tlie process of drying. 

Two methods of drying are in use; the old process, which 
consists in spreading the grains on a cement-covered pave- 
ment called ferreiro, where they are allowed to dry in the 
sun. For this about two months are necessary, and the 
grains have to be raked over and turned during the day and 
gathered into piles and covered at night. Whenever a 
shower comes up the coffee must also be covered. The more 
modern and satisfactory process of drying l)y steam is em- 
ployed on many of the large plantations. By this process the 
drying, which by the old method requires about sixty days, 
is accomplished in a few hours, with a vast economy of labor. 
Under this system drying is done in large, shadow pans of 
zinc heated by steam coils beneath. This process will, doubt- 
less, on large plantations, supersede the older and more ex- 
pensive method. The drying is done more uniformly and 
with no danger of injury from sudden rain. 



The coffee, after drying, is still inclosed in the inner and 
outer skins, which have been rendered morti brittle by the 
drying. 'J'he machinery necessary for the removal of this is 
somewhat complicated and expensive. The most efficient of 
the machines in use are from the United States, and a com- 
plete plant for a large plantation will cost not less than 
$25,000. The coffee is brought from the drying house and 
placed in bins, whence, by an elevator hand, it is carried to a 
ventilator, where it is rid of rubbish and dust by sifting and 
fanning. From the ventilator the coffee is carried to the 
sheller [dexcascador), which consists of a toothed cylinder, by 
whose rapid revolutions the outer and inner husks are 
broken. The grains and broken husks are carried by a pipe 
to a second ventilator, where the latter are sifted out and 
fanned away, and the formei' are carried Ijy an elevator to 
the separator. This is composed of hollow copper cylinders, 
pierced with holes of different shapes and sizes. These 
cylinders are kept constantly revolving, and the coffee grains, 
passing through the holes, fall into separate bins, being thus 
assorted according to their size and shape. 

The coffee thus mechanically sorted and classified goes into 
the markets of the world, where it is sold, the small, round 
grains as Mocha, the large flat grains as Java, and so on, 
until all the coffee-producing countries are represented in all 
the corner groceries of the world by the product of a single 
Brazilian plantation. 



[The following article is abridged from the Jamaica Botan- 
ical Bulletin, and conveys much information about the 
Liberian coffee tree, which for some localities, is thought to 
be superior to every other variety, for resisting insects and 

diseases.] 



COFFEE IN LJHEIUA. 



/ 



Liberian Coffee is a native of riuinea, and is found on the 
low hills from near the sea-coast to considerable distances 
inland. The climate of the west coast of Africa is very damp 
and the rainfall heavy. This species grows naturally into a 



24 

• 
tree, twenty to forty feet lii^h, with a lon^i' tap root. The 
berries are much laraer than those of ordinary cotfee. and do 
not drop from the branches for a long time after they are ripe. 
They differ also in the pulp becoming very hard, when dry. 

Soil.— The soil should he deep, rich, and friable. Soil that 
is very shallow or altogether clayey, and situations where 
water is retained for any time, must be avoided for plantations. 
But a certain amount of clay mixed with stones or limestone 
debris is not prejudicial, if the drainage is perfect. 

Climate. — Although in Liberia this coffee grows with an 
excessive rainfall, said to be 187 inches, it is certain that such 
a large amount is not by any means necessary. It gives large 
crops at ('astleton Gardens with a rainfall of 110 inches and 
a mean tempei-ature of 76° F.. at an elevation of 580 feet. 
Even at Hope Gardens with an average rainfall of 55 inches, 
it grows well, and produces a crop ; and probably in situations 
as dry as the Liguanea plains, it would, if irrigated, bear 
heavily. 

Elevation. — It is essentially a tropical plant, and probabl}' 
would not succeed at higher elevations than 2,500 feet, but 
where ordinaiy coffee does well, there is no need to replace 
it by its rival. In any suitable places below the lower limit 
for ordinary coffee, it would repay cultivation. 

Planting. — The seeds may be sown in a nursery in beds 
about 4 feet wide in good soil well dug and pulverised. They 
should l)e sown 8 or 4 inches apart, and afterwards trans- 
planted into bamboo joints for convenience of carriage to the 
fields. They may also be sown in bamboo pots at first. The 
nursery should be shaded from the direct rays of the sun. 

When the plants are put out in their permanent position, 
they will still require shade, and perhaps bananas are the 
most suitable plants for this purpose. It is possible that in 
dry situations, permanent shade trees will be found necessary, 
and perhaps the best are the guango, the bread fruit, and jack 
fruit trees. 

The distance apart for planting depends a good deal on the 
soil, and whether the tree is topped. It may vary from 8 to 
12 feet. 

Topping. — As to topping Liberian Coffee trees some planters 
do not top tliem. but allow them to grow up naturally. In 



9r^ 



Liberia they are topped down to 5 feet, and planters there 
.say that they oi)tain larger crops by this plan. When the 
trees grow up high, considerable injury may be done by care- 
less pickers. It may be found that 5 feet is too low, and 8 
feet for instance, a better height ; but just as the practice of 
topping ordinary coffee varies throughout the island, it will 
be found necessary to experiment w^ith Liberian Coffee and 
discover the best method for each district. 

TiELD.— Extracts are given l^elow from the Kcir Hn I let in 
showing that crops of D to 12 cwt. per acre can l»e ol)tained 
from trees after the tiiird or fourth year. 

PuLPiNG.^ — -The tough fil)rous (diaracter of the pulp I'enders 
the ordinary coffee pulper quite unsuitable for use with 
Liberian Coffee, and for some time after attention had first 
been called to this new product by Sir Joseph Hooker from 
Kew, no satisfactory pulping machine was invented. Later, 
however, a machine has been devised by Messrs. John Gor- 
don k I'o.. 1) New Ih'oad St., London, E. C, which is the only 
special machine rec|uired for treating Liberian Coffee, as all 
the other machines treat Arabian and Liberian Coffee equally 
well. 

Gordon's Lnproved Coffee Pulper has been specially de- 
signed for pulping Liberian Coffee. The working of the 
machineis simple, and no difficulty whatever will be found 
in obtaining good results, always provided that the coffee be 
ripe and freshly picked. The cost of the pulper is from £60 
to £100. 

They also make larger Pulpers, which are provided wath a 
Separator for classifying the -Cherry Coffee, each size thus 
obtained being delivei'ed into a particular channel adjusted 
to that size. This arrangement greatly assists the perfect 
pulping of the l)erries, since the machine has practically to 
deal with berries of the same size. 

A Separator also can be used in conjunction with two or 
more separate Pulpers, each Pulper adjusted to take one size 
of berry. 

In Java the Liberian Coffee cherries are fermented before 
they are pulped. 

Messrs. Gordon state in the Kew Bulletin: — 

^'We have supplied pulpers for Liberian Coffee to Java, 



2r, 

West Coast of Africa, and mostly to the Malay Peninsula. 
One firm there, Messrs. Hill & Ratlibone, have had six or 
seven pulpers ; they have also our peelers and separators. 

"It is quite imperative that water he used in pulpino', and 
where it is not obtainable the only course, we fear, is to dry 
the coffee in the cherry, when it can very well be peeled, only 
this takes some power. 

"Our peelers and separators will treat Liberian equally as 
well as ordinary Arabian Coffee, and as far as these machines 
are concerned there is no difference of construction. It is 
only in the operation of pulpin,^ where difficulty has been 
found, necessitating a special pulper." 

''They have also a machine for separating the pulp from 
the coffee after it has been discharged from the pulper. 

"The machine is very simple and complete, and only re- 
quires to be fixed on two wooden beams over a tank contain- 
ing water. The cylinder should be immersed in the water to 
the depth of about four inches. 

"It is substantially constructed of very stout iron I'ods, 
securely fixed in wrought iron rings, as shewn ; the hopper, 
bearing and mouth piece at the feed ends, being in one piece. 

"The cylinder is also fitted with an internal worm or screw 
for propelling forward the pulp. 

"It is made in five and ten feet, or any intermediate lengths, 
at proportionate prices, and can be supplied either thoroughly 
well painted, or galvanized. 

"Smout's Patent Coffee Peeler and Polisher is an excellent 
and simple machine that has met with the greatest success, 
and its superiority is proved by the higher prices obtained for 
coffee which has been treated by it. It is now considered in- 
dispensable and is employed in all the large establishments 
for the cleaning of Coffee in London, Hamburg and European 
ports. There are no complicated parts with springs or other 
contrivances to get out of order, and owing to the strength of 
its construction no part is liable to breakage or to wear out. 

"The working of this peeler is extremely simple. The 
machine having been put in motion, the parchment coffee is 
fed into the hopper, when it is only necessary to adjust the 
weight on the lever of the discharge door and the regulator 
on the Pan and the Coffee will l)e turned out with the desired 



27 

finish. If the inachiiie is properly adjusted, the Coti'ee will 
only require to be passed once through it. 

"This peeler possesses the advantage, that it can be worked 
equally well at any power up to its maximum, the (|uantity 
of (Jofl'ee cleaned being in proportion to the power applied. 
It works without noise and without creating dust and it is 
the only machine that does not break a single grain of coffee. 
AVe venture to say, that it is also the cheapest Peeler in the 
world, as no other machine at the same price can produce an 
equal amount of work. 

■'We can supply it either with or without the Exhaust Fan. 
By means of the Fan the Cottee is delivered quite clean and 
tit to be passed at once to the Separator. This arrangement 
is a very valuable improvement, as it saves not only the time 
occupied; but also the labor required to carry the coffee to 
a separate Fan for the purpose of removing the dust and 
chaff. The Exhaust Fan will be set to blow in the direction 
shown in the sketch, unless specially ordered to blow in the 
opposite direction. 

"When more than one machine is required, two or more 
can be coupled together and driven by one Imnd. This 
machine can be divided for mule carriage when desired." 

The following account of an experiment in planting Libe- 
rian Coffee appeared in the Madras Mail of 10th May, 1890, 
and was republished in the Kew Bulletin for November. 1890: 

Some 15 years ago I received a couple of Liberian plants 
from a number presented to a Planters' Association by Gov- 
ernment. These had come out to the country, 1 believe, from 
Kew direct, in a Wai'dian case. Planted in a back garden 
and almost unnoticed and uncared for, they grew broad and 
high till now they are about 20 feet and have apparently no 
intention of stopping. In the evil report soon after prevail- 
ing regarding Liberian Coffee, I supposed there was nothing 
in it till at length I began to notice that the trees were bear- 
ing very well, and that there was no trace of leaf disease. 
Then I planted out 200 or 300 seedlings, in a new clearing 
along with Arabica, and these, now seven or eight years old 
and in a more sheltered position than their parents, have 
done even better. Planted 10 by 10 over Arabica they have 



28 

now ran up to 16 or 18 feet, all exactly of one type, and are 
bearing exceedingly well; the crop on them for this season 
cannot well l)e taken at less than three pounds of clean coffee 
per tree. The Arabica underneath them has suffered fright- 
fully from fungus regularly every year, yet I challenge any 
one to find a sign of it on them. A few of the old leaves, 
turn yellow and tumble oft", as was the natural way of our old 
staple before the days of leaf disease, as I well remember be- 
fore 1868. We know^ that Liberian Coffee will grow at the 
sea-level ; the ones above referred to are at 2,500 feet in shel- 
tered bamboo land : whether they will do well at higher ele- 
vations remains to be seen, but as far as 1 can see 1 am satis- 
fied, and only regret that I did not do eight years ago what T 
am doing now, viz., plant Liberian all over my clearing ivifh 
the Arahicd and let the best win. To sum up, the points of 
diff'erence between Liberian and Arabica I find as advantages: 

1. That it does not get fungus, or only in such a way that 
the health of the trees is in no way affected. 

2. That it is a tree, not a bush, running up to 80 feet in 
height before fifteen years old, and in consequence is not in- 
jured by drought. 

3. That judging by the trees in evidence, and the way they 
go on growing, and by the fact that they do not come into 
bearing till four or five years old, this variety may be taken 
as much longer lived. 

4. That is a heavier bearing tree when o]ice fairly started; 
those in evidence now yielding ten to twenty hundredweights 
per acre, calculating on the clean coffee yielded, and admit- 
ting that only some 700 trees to the acre can l)e grown in- 
stead of at least double that number of the old kind. 

5. That being a deep-rooted plant, it is not affected by 
drought, while a very slight shower is quite sufffcient to 
bring out and set the blossom ; which moreover, has the fur- 
ther advantage of fading and falling off within the day of its 
opening, so that it is hardly possible that it can be injured 
by rain or hail as is so often the case with the delicate Ara- 
bica blossom. Even in the very driest season, when the other 
plants appear on the point of destruction, these look cool and 
green and not turning a leaf. 

6. That the cost of cultivation is comparatively little. 
There is no pruning to do beyond pulling off the suckers for 



2S) 

two or three years to prevent the tree from running up into 
too numy stems, the crop is carried on the'same wood (and 
extensions of it) year after year, and there is, therefore, no 
old wood to cut out. The shade of a thick, tall tree like this, 
where they pretty well cover the ground would effectually 
prevent weeds from becoming troublesome, and as the roots 
are deep down, the debilitating effects of weeds even if they 
did grow, would be very little felt. 

7. The berries (of the size of a w^alnut) remain firmly fixed 
on the tree for many weeks after they are ripe enough to 
pick; eventually they fall off, and may be gathered off' the 
ground. In the case of scarcity of labor this might be au 
advantage. 

Against these good points we may set the following: 

1. That this species gives very little return till at least the 
fifth year, while in low-lying districts some return is got from 
Arabica in the second year. 

2. That the value in the London market, from a sample 
lately sent home, is about 10 per cent, lower than that of 
ordinary coffee. 

8. That in districts under the south-west monsoon, whose 
flow^ering season is in March and April, the cj'op instead of 
beginning to ripen in Octol)er and hnishing in January or 
February take a whole 14 months to ripen. The fiower- 
ing season is the same as the other, bnt though some berries 
will turn ripe in the following April much of it will not be 
ready to gather until duly. Thus the tree carries two crops 
at the same time, and all mixed together on the same 

CD 

branches. Sometimes at the end of the spring we may see 
at the same time the crop of the previous season as large as 
plums, and partially turning red, the crop of the current 
season the size of [)6as, and a further sprinkling of the 
curious eight-petal led. heavily scented blossoms as large as 
the palm of a, child's hand. All these mixed together among 
the large dark, glossy leaves, give the tree a most rich and 
handsome appearance. 

There are now one or two points about which some in- 
formation may be of interest. 

Pickiny. — There is no difficulty about this: a notched bam- 
boo enables the coolie to get up among the branches, and he 



30 

then picks otf all that are ripe, or nearly so (taking' care not ot 
rip off the sraairberries), dropping it all on the ground, and 
collecting afterwards into baskets. 

It takes four bushels of these huge cherries to make one of 
parchment (instead of two as with Arabica), but even sO, the 
fruit being so large, a coolie can pick quite twice as much as 
of the other, and the cost per ton of clean would l)e much 
the same. 

Cu7'ing. — I have seen advertisements of special pulpers made 
in Ceylon for Liberian coffee, and have no doubt that they 
are as effective as they are represented. Any one growing a 
quantity of this coffee would have to employ machinery. 

I have tried experiments on a small scale with my cherry, 
and found that it was no use to pass the stuff through an 
ordinary disc pulper (set of course very wide), because the 
husk never (at this elevation) gets soft enough to squeeze out 
below the chop but roils up into a hard ball and comes out 
with the parchment in front ; and I found that when the chop 
was set wide enough to allow the husk to pass, the bean went 
with it. Moreover the work was so hard that four coolies 
were completely tired out in pulping two bushels. Then I 
found the simplest way of getting at the parchment was to 
put it up in heaps in the pulping house to rot. This may 
seem barbarous, but the color of the clean coffee so treated 
was quite as good as some treated in the ordinary way, 
indeed the parchment envelope of the bean is so thick 
and vStrong that it completely protects it from injury 
from heating. Moreover this kind of coffee will carry no- 
thing but a dead whitey-green color no matter how 
the curing may ))e done. If allowed to dry in cherry some 
heavy peeler might perhaps break it up, but it seems to me 
as hard and tough as the very best road metal and I much 
doubt whether a coffee curing firm would undertake it on the 
usual terms. As regards the drinking qualities of this 
variety, I can safely say that no one who had not previously 
been told would know that he was not drinking the common 
article, the same quantity of powder goes further and 1 can- 
not notice any inferiority of quality. Unsuspecting guests 
have often said '"May I have another cup of this excellent 
coffee?" and they usually look somewhat surprised when 



ol 

told what it was. If you ti\y to sell it in the bazaar whole 
and clean (looking somethin^^ like date stones in shops) 
natives decline to buy it. "This one kind bad imitation 
cofiee" they will say, but if yon smash it up and mix a little 
dirt with it they will take it readily, and never find out the 
difference. 

P/ai/fiu;/. — Owing to the seedling throwing out a strong, 
deep, tap root, something like that of a jack tree, I am in- 
clined to think that when a plantation has to be made it 
would be i)etter to have the pits made ready by May, and 
then to put one or more seeds in each pit as early in the 
south-west monsoon as possible, so that the seedlings may 
get established before the end of the north-east monsoon in 
Decembei-. But if not grown to any great size they can be 
lifted with a little special care from nurseries in the ordinary 
way. Considering the fact that Liberian coffee does not 
come into bearing till two or three years after the other, it 
may probably be a wise plan for one going in for its cultiva- 
tion to pit his clearing 4 by 4 and to plant Arabica, after- 
wards putting in the giant kind down every other row, mak- 
ing them thus S by 8. The Liberian is much too robust to 
take any notice of its little friend, while by the time it has 
come into bearing you may safely assume that the Arabica 
has given what it can in maiden crops, and unless heavily 
manured has already made arrangements for returning to a 
"better world where there is no fungus. 

The Keiv Bid/ef/// for November. 1892, contained the follow- 
ing giving actual figures of results obtained: 

The more important plantations yielding regular crops of 
Liberian Coffee are established in Java and in the Straits 
Settlements. In the latter the yield per acre in full bearing 
is given as ranging from 9.^ cwts. to 11 1 cwts. per acre. 
Placing the price of Liberian coffee as low as 90s. per cwt., 
this would show a gross return of from £42 to £52 per acre. 
This is a higher return than is obtained from almost any 
plantations of Arabian coffee. 

The returns from the Liberian coffee estates are interest- 
ing and show that under favorable circumstances the yield is 
not showing any tendency to decrease. Linsum and S'Lian 
in Sunges Ujong. estates are surrounded by forest, and the 
atmosphere is generally laden with moistni-e (rain fall from 



32 

• 

90" to 120") and rain falling on over 200 days in the year, 
with heavier and more continuous rains in October. Novem- 
ber, and the early part of December. The older fields on 
these estates are manured yearl}', and weeds are allowed to 
grow and have been for many years for a large portion of the 
year. At cei'tain times the estates are, for periods varying 
from six weeks to three months, kept scrupulously clean. 
The cost of cultivation is from $70 to $90 per acre per an- 
num. The soil is not particularly rich, but the climate, from 
the moisture, makes the estate very productive. The export 
duty of thirty (dollars) cents per picul produces to the Gov- 
ernment an equivalent of a quit-rent of $2.40 per acre on the 
land in full bearing. 

The younger fields on this estate are finer than the old 
coffee was at the same age, they all having been planted 
from selected seed from fine trees, thus getting a pedigree 
seed, some of the clearings being planted from the 4th gen- 
eration of seed so selected, and the 5th generation of seed is 
now in the nursery. 

The Liberian coffee-plant is, curiously enough, free from 
parasite attard^s, possibly because, being more recently re- 
claimed from a state of nature, its constitution is less en- 
feebled than the old variety, which has been cultivated for 
at least a thousand years, though in Arabia it does not date 
further back than the early part of the fifteenth century. 
The Liberian plant has, in addition, the advantage of being 
very prolific in highly aromatic beans, and as it loves low 
.lands, it can be grown at idtitudes unsuital)le for the Ai-abian 
coffee, the native country of which is the uplands of Abyssi- 
nia. But something more than climate is necessary to a 
profitable coffee plantation. It requires a well-watered 
mountain slope not mucii over 25 degi'ees from the equator, 
and between 1000 feet and 4000 feet above the sea, where the 
mean temperature is not less than (U) degrees. Then the soil 
must be friable and well drained, and enriched by the fresh 
loam which is being constantly washed down the hill-slope 
by the tropical rains. In Quito and Peru, no doubt, there are 
plantations at a height of (>000 feet on the Andes. But even 
at this elevation in such a climate frost is unknown. Moisture 
is especially necessary, and if the rainfall be deficient the 
ground must at intervals be carefully irrigated. 



38 

For at least three years after the seedlings are set out no 
return can be expected, while the labor of the cultivator in 
weeding, cleaning, pruning, draining and "handling" the 
plants generally has to be unremitting, if his hopes are not 
to be doomed to disappointment. In the third year the little 
shrubs begin to yield a remunerative crop. Yet, even at the 
best of times, the ordinary Arabian variety cannot be reck- 
oned upon to bear more than from one and a half to tvv^o 
pounds of berries in a season, though much depends upon the 
climate, soil and situation. 'J'he Liberian species is said to 
sometimes bears as muidi as sixteen pounds of marketable 
beans during the eight months it continues to flower. Three 
gatherings are usually made every year, since the berries, 
owing to the circumstances mentioned, may at any period 
be of unequal ripeness. These operations naturally require 
great care, judgment and experience, for the value of coffee 
depends entirely upon its flavor, and such a seeming trifle as 
not cutting off the irrigating streams at the proper time will 
injure the aroma of the berries, while a deficiency in the water 
supply or the presence of weeds between the rows is equally 
apt to reduce their dimensions. The latter point is vital, for 
the shape, size and color of the beans are among the principal 
elements which determine the value of a crop, and are affect- 
ed l)y very trivial circumstances. Then the shape seems re- 
lated to the particular part of the plant upon which the berry 
grows, the size and succulence on the nature of the locality, 
while the color has, according to the investigations of Mr. 
Hiern, reference to the degree of matui'ity which the fruit 
has attained at the time of gathering. The nicety with which 
the beans are sun-dried and passed between rollers, in order 
to remove the external pulp and the membrane enclosing 
them, has also an influence on the esteem in which they are 
held. 

— ■ — :o: 

COFFEE CULTURE IN CEYLON. 



Seed. — The selection of seed is a matter of great import- 
ance. If Coffee Arabica is to be grown, care must be taken 
that the seed is procured from healthy vigorous plants from 
seven to ten years old, and from those plants only which 



34 

liave strong and sturdy branches and on which the bud-joints 
are close. The object being to get heavy crops, close bnd- 
jointed branches are essential, as such mean a larger surface 
on which the cherries will develop. Good seed is procurable 
locally, both the Arabian and Liberian species. The seed 
should be fully ripe when gathered for planting; should be 
pulped by hand, unfermented, unwashed, dried in the shade, 
and be in the parchment. If should be perfectly fresh when 
planted; old seed is useless. One bushel of seed, as above de- 
scrilied, will give about 25,000 plants, sufficient to plant 
about 37 acres eight feet by eight feet, if the Arabian variety 
be planted; and about SO acres, planted twelve feet each way 
for Liberian. 

The Nursery. — Prior to the arrival of the seed, it being a 
matter of utmost importance that the seed be planted as 
fresh as possible, it is advisable to set about getting a nur- 
sery ready. The nursery should be on a high, moderately 
sloping piece of land, in close proximity to water, because 
the seedlings will require watering daily. The soil should 
be the richest procurable, and should be thoroughly ploughed ■ 
and pulverised to a depth of a least 18 inches. The land 
should now be laid off in beds, each running down the whole 
length of the slope, and three feet broad. The beds should 
be thrown up, and separated from each other by a wide fur- 
row or path. At the top of the slope a drain should be dug 
to divert the surface water. A bit of flat land, provided it is 
high, can be used equally well for a nurser3^ but the beds 
will require to be thrown up well, and drainage provided all 
round, the beds being separated by drains and paths. A 
nursei-y half an acre in extent, allowing for paths, etc., will 
provide sufficient space to rear 85,000 plants, or sufficient 
for three bushels of seed, enough to plant out over 100 acres. 

The nursery being prepared, the seed on arrival should be 
immediately sown in the beds, in rows six inches apart and 
six inches between the rows. A round peg is pushed into 
the ground to a depth of two inches, and one seed dropped 
into this hole, flat side downward, the earth pushed back, 
and so on till all is sown. If the nursery is in a shady situa- 
tion, nothing further except the daily watering (best after 
sunset) and weeding will be required. If not in a shady 



35 

situation, artificial shade must be provided — best accom- 
plished by covering the beds over with a heavy coating of 
straw or grass, oi- by driving forked props into the ground 
along the sides of the beds, laying saplings along these, and 
covering the whole with branches or palm leaves. The 
height of this covering should be sufficient to allow of the 
weeding by hand being easily attended to. The watering 
should be done by a watering-can with a very fine rose, or by 
a hose from a 400-gallon tank raised above the level of the 
beds and kept full by means of a pump. In this nursery the 
plants will remain till they attain a height ot eight or nine 
inches, or have developed one pair of primary branches. 

Great care must be taken to gradually remove the shade 
in the nurseries as the seedlings develop. By so doing they 
are gradually inured to stand the weather when planted out. 
If young seedlings are so treated and are gradually inured to 
the full heat of the sun, there is no necessity for any artifi- 
cial shade, except mulching with grass, when planted out in 
their permanent positions. In all, from the time the seed is 
put in the nursery till the seedlings are ready for transplant- 
ing, a period of about six months will elapse. As the trans- 
planting should take place at the commencement of the 
rainy season — say by the beginning of October or November, 
it is obvious that the nursei'y should be started about the 
beginning of April, or earlier. 

Transplanting. — The field to be planted should be thorough- 
ly well ploughed (the deeper the better), harrow^ed, cross 
ploughed, and harrowed again, and got ready by the begin- 
ning of the rainy season. The lining out of the land should 
then be done, and this is easily accomplished if the land has 
been thoroughly cleared of timber, stumps, etc., by running 
out drills with the plough, parallel to each other and 8 feet 
or 12 feet apart, accordingly as Arabian or Liberian coffee is 
the crop. Now run cross furrows parallel to each other and 
at right angles to the first lot. The intersections of these 
furrows will be the places for the plants. 

Holes are now dug to a depth and width dependent on the 
size of the seedling plants; or, if the land has not been 
cleared and the stumps remain, a good stout clothes-line, 
having bits of cloth tied on at distances of 8 feet apart, may 



36 

be stretched across the plot to be planted, and pegs driven in 
at each mark, to indicate where the holes are to be dug. 
Eight feet from these pegs the line is again stretcdied. and so 
on till the field is all lined out. The system of lining out 
ensures regularity in the rows. In i-emoving the plants from 
the nursery, a cloudy, damp day should be selected, and each 
plant i-emoved with a good sized ball of earth round its 
roots. If the tap-root is too long it may be severed by an 
oblique cut with a sharp knife. The seedling shonld be 
carefully planted in the hole prepared for it, care being 
taken to keep the tap-root straight, the earth well pressed 
down all round, a good double handful of hay or grass laid 
all round it, and the plant left to take its chance. The ob- 
ject attained by this mulching of hay or grass is not to keep 
the sun off the plant, but olX the f'(frf/t nHunJ the plant. If 
the planting out lias been done in wet or showery weather, 
and the season does not get too dry, the future of the plants 
need occasion no worry. 

After '1'reatment. — The after treatment till the plants 
come into bearing, which will take place about two and 
a half to three years from the date of planting, will be the 
rigorous exclusion of all weeds; a free use of the scarifier or 
horse-hoe will readily effect this. Shonld the wind breaks 
left not be sufficient, it will be found necessary to support 
each plant by driving a stake into the ground alongside and 
fastening the stem to it. Again, if shade is absolutely neces- 
sary owing to the continued dryness of the weather, it will 
be advisal)le to plant maize or sorghum between the rows; it 
grows ([uickly, and will provide ample siiade. while at the 
same time a partial return for the outlay is secured. 

Drainage must now be attended to. Water must not be 
allowed to lie about in hollows or inequalities of the ground, 
which must all be drained to a lower level. If the coffee plot 
is on the slope of a steep hill, terracing will have to be re- 
sorted to prevent the soil being washed away, and perhaps 
the plants with it; but steep hill sides had better be avoided. 
During the two years before the plant conies into bearing 
the energetic planter will endeavor to attain a high degree 
of cultivation in his coffee plot. 

Pruning.^Iu addition to the necessary drainage, terracing,. 



and weeding of the coffee plot during the period before bear- 
ing, the plants must also be '"handled" to a certain extent. 
Pruning consists of various operations connected with either 
arresting the height of the plants to cause them to spread 
out laterall}^ or in removing the additional growth of wood 
to encourage the plants to push out new fruit-J)earing shoots. 
These operations are technically known as topping, handling, 
and pruning. 

Topping. — Were the coffee plant left to itself it would grow 
upwards till it attains a height of twenty feet and over, and 
were this allowed, it is obvious that the gathering of the fruit 
would necessitate the use of ladders— an inconvenience, to 
say the least of it, apart from the damage done to the fruit, 
bearing branches by rubbing and breakage. It is usual, 
thei-efore, when the plants attain a height of from 4A feet to 
5 feet, to nip off the central bud with the hnger and thumb, 
if the wood is soft enough, as it usually is, to allow of this, 
otherwise a knife is used. This operation is known as top- 
ping. The hrst result of topping is to induce the growth of 
suckers or shoots under the joints of the primary branches 
or on the stem. These are rubbed oft' as soon as noticed, 
without injury to the bark, as they are then very tender. 
This operation is called handling. 

From the "primary'" branches spring "secondary" branches 
in paii's at short intervals. Any appearing within six inches 
of the main stem are cut away at once, so as to leave a free 
passage for the admission of air and some light. The ol>ject 
of pruning is simply to divert the energies of the plant from 
forniing wood and to concentrate them upon forming fruit. 
The fruit is borne by young wood and as the "secondaries" 
are reproduced when removed, they are cut off as soon as 
they have borne, and a constant succession of young wood is 
thus secured. Tf the topping and handling above descrilied 
have been cai-efully attended to. this operation of pruning 
will not ];)e found necessary before the third or fourth year 
from planting. That is to say, two crops will have been got 
oft' l)efore pruning becomes necessary, if at all. 

The practical eftect of pruning is to limit the height of the 
plant, say, to five feet, and force it to develop, horizontally, 
^'primary'' branches at intervals of 6 inches throughout the 



38 

entire height, and to form along tliese branches a constant 
supply of secondary fruit-bearing twigs. All upward branches, 
or branches running crosswise, are removed. This treatment 
forces the bushes to grow out laterally exposing a large sur- 
face to the sun and light, and from which the crop can be 
easily secured. Pruning must be done as soon as po^isible 
after the crop has been gathered. It is usual in pruning to 
leave the opposite lateral to that removed, so as to allow of 
its fruiting next year. By cutting the "secondaries" thus 
every other year, a continuous crop is secured. A "primary"' 
must never be cut. Broken, diseased, or dead branches must 
always be removed. 

LiBERiAN Coffee. — The Liberian variety soon grows up 
into a tree, running up when not topped to thirty feet, and, 
being a very deep feeder, is less liable to be injured by dry 
weather. The Liberian does not come into bearing till four 
years old, but when it does the yield is much heavier than 
the Arabian; 1100 pounds and over per acre have been got, 
and that from 700 trees to the acre. The Liberian need not 
be pruned — in fact, would be better left un pruned, beyond 
pulling off the suckers for the first year or two to prevent 
the tree from running up into too many stems. The cherries 
of the Liberian variety remain firmly fixed on the tree for 
many weeks after they are ripe enough to pick — a very im- 
portant matter when there is a scarcity of labor. Owing to 
the size of the cherries, the ordinary pulping machinery is 
not effective. Special pulpers for Liberian coffee are pro- 
curable, however, as stated in a previous article, on page 25. 

:o: 

EXTRACTS FROM MR. J. W. FORSYTH'S REPORT 
ON COFFEE TO THE HAWAIIAN GOVERN- 
MENT. 

[The following extracts from the above report, published in 1888, give the views of an ex- 
perienced colfee grower in regard to the industry in these islands.] 

On the Island of Hawaii, District of Hamakua, there are 
several small sections of land planted with coffee. The plan- 
tation of Honokaa, at an elevation of 1,700 feet, has about an 
acre of coffee planted. The trees are in the neighborhood of 
twelve years of age. I estimate the crop on them to be 



39 

nearl,y ten hundred weight per acre. This is over and above 
what has been already picked off this season. Mr. Rickard is 
of opinion that from three to four pounds of coffee per tree 
could be gathered yearly. 

The trees were in excellent condition, very little shaded, 
and free from blight, except only in the case of a few isolated 
trees which were almost completely choked with Hilo grass, 
and in a. sickly and dying condition. Diseases and plagues 
of all kinds are less apt to attack trees of vigorous health, 
and free from objective influences. Weakly trees and those 
exposed in consequence of neglect in the way described, are 
sensitive to all kinds of pests. Mr. Kinney, formerly man- 
ager of Onomea, Hilo, has planted qnite a large quantity of 
coffee in that district. I am informed l)y him that he 
has planted out fully 50,000 trees, which are now being up- 
rooted to make way for sugar cane. Klevation about 1,000 
feet above sea level. These trees have been planted far too 
close together, a very common error, and allowed to grow 
naturally. The effect is patent; at the age of three to four 
years the branches interlace, a shade is cast on the lower 
primaries, which become, in consequence, weak, spindly and 
unproductive. To make matters worse, the coffee trees have 
been planted under too dense a shade. In fact sunlight and 
daylight have been more than semi-excluded. Accordingly 
the tiee is drawn up to seek the light, which hampers it as a 
producer. Coffee never blossoms freely under shade, and 
without blossom there can be no crop. 

Daylight, and all the daylight, is absolutely necessary for 
coffee. Nowhere in the world are shade trees planted among 
coffee, except only to protect it from the scorching rays of 
the sun, and in localities only where there is an insufficient 
rainfall, and where there are long periods of dry weather. 
Shade, under there conditions, is always phoitcd. and that 
judiciously and with care. Mr. Kinney informs me that 
from three to four pounds of clean coffee could be reckoned 
as an average annual return from trees grown under the 
best auspices, which agrees with all the other accounts that 
have reached me. 

Kau Coffee Very Fine.— Tn Puna I saw very little coffee. 
In the district of Kau, above Hilea Plantation, there are sev- 



40 

era! patches of coffee, by far the best I have seen.— exposed 
to sunlight and daylight and quite free from blight.— but 
again too closely planted to return their l)est results. 1 
should estimate the crop on these patches to be at the rate 
of twelve to fifteen quintals (100 lbs.) per acre. The soil is 
very similar to that of Hamakua and Hilo; deep friable loam, 
chocolate colored, and a subsoil drainage. These trees were 
totally free from any indications whatever of blight. 

Coffee in Kona. — In Kona there has l)een a great deal 
planted, but nowhere did I see an intelligent effort. No one 
appears to have had any knowledge of the requirements of 
the coffee shrub. All attempts are alike. One person ap- 
pears to have copied the method of his neighl)or, v>nthout 
any regard as to whether he was right or wrong. 

Throughout the whole of Kona 1 saw^ but very little blight; 
indeed only in the case of isolated ti'ees surrounded and 
choked with Hilo grass, or overshadowed and touched by the 
guava tree. Everywhere, removed from these influences, 
the coffee was as fine as coffee can possibly be. I never saw 
better conditioned trees than the majority of those in Kona. 

Nowhere is coffee machinery employed of any kind. This 
is very much to be regretted, as a single pulper can do as 
much and better work than a hundred men, with the primi- 
tive methods used. Peeling and sizing machinery too, is 
quite unknowui. 

In regard to coffee blight, \vhich I was told would forever 
prevent coffee being a paying industry, I may say that this 
experience is not confined alone to these Islands. 

Blight IN Ceylon. — -The l)imbula district of Ceylon, was 
at one time, threatened - to be exterminated as a coffee 
country. The i^lague was so bad tliat planters contemplated 
abandoning their estates; but looking forward hopefully to 
the eternal "next year." for a prospect of a new order of 
things, their perseverance was rewarded. The trees be- 
came acclimatized, and to-day. in fact, for some years past, 
there has been scarcely a vestige of the pest to I)e seen. 
Dimbula. when I left, was the largest sheet of unbroken 
coffee in the world. My opinion in regard to the coffee at 
present planted here, is that the trees, as was the case in 
Dimbula, are ac(dimatized, or becoming so very fast. 



41 

In confirmation of the above statement 1 be^' to quote the 
followin*>- extract from Ferguson's Directory, Ceylon: 

"In the early days, black bug or blight affected the coffee 
plant very seriously. Whole fields were prevented from 
cropping by this evil, and it was mainly on account of the 
prevalence of bug that any extension of cultivation to Dim- 
bula and Dickoya was condemned. But who ever hears of 
blight now? One hundred thousand acres have been planted 
in the wilderness of the Peak since then, and the area affect- 
ed l)y bug there or elsewhere in the Island, has been most 
trifling. P)ut the place has lieen more than filled by the 
most terrible of all diseases, Uemelia Vastatrix, or coffee 
leaf disease." 

Of the terrible effects of this coffee scourge, I need only say 
that since the year 1869, when it made its first appearance, 
the coffee crops of Ceylon fell off during the first decade of 
years, more than one-half of their greatest production. 

Danc4er of Bringing the Disease Here. — In a letter which 
[ addressed to the President of the l^lanters' Association, 
l^onolulu. from Honokaa, Hawaii, I urged upon them, at this 
meeting, the necessity of drawing the attention of the Min- 
ister of the Interior to the danger to this country of would- 
l)e l)enefactors, bringing plants of coffee from the East In- 
dies, with a view to change the seed here. 1 desire to em- 
body a similar warning in this report, so that it may reach 
every one interested in planting on Hawaii. There may be 
even now plants on their way for the very purpose suggested. 
I would strongly advise them being destroyed before landing. 
The pest was introduced into the Fiji group of Islands in this 
way. where I saw it and reported upon the matter. It has 
also extended its ravages to southern India and Java. 

These Islands ai-e quite isolated, and it is easy to keep 
them free from contamination. A great industry undevel- 
oped, has as much right to be protected as those already 
established. Scientific men shake their heads at the idea of 
leaf fungus disappearing in the same mysterious way that it 
began. 'Tt has found its food, and why should it go, so long 
as there is a coffee tree left for it to live on,'" fairly represents 
the opinion of Dr. Thwates. Dr. Frimen or Marshall Ward. 
The eminent mycologists have not given the planters much 
more comfort. 



42 

How TO Plant Coffee. — As I have before stated, the first 
qualification is rich, deep soil, as coffee is a large producer 
and calls equally largely from the soil. The amount of re- 
turn of crops is regulated according to the fertility of the 
soil; like cinchona, it rejoices more in sloping, and even 
steep lands, than flat T would strongly advise caution being- 
observed in selecting pahoehoe formation covered with a layer 
of soil. 

To select lands for the cultivation of coffee, a thorough 
knov^dedge of all the requirements of the tree is necessary, 
as a maximum return to a given area is the object to be 
gained, and where any ot these requirements are wanting, 
coffee had better not be tried. 

1 know of no reason why cinchona and coffee cannot be 
grown equally well in the choicest parts of Koiia and Puna 
on the old a-a formations, as districts mentioned, but as T 
have never planted on similar land, cannot say positively. 

Like cinchona, coffee is also very sensitive to "wet feet" 
and any land of a spongy nature that j-etains water will as- 
suredly kill coffee. A-a formation containing a sufficiency of 
soil is best adapted to the requirements of the coftee shrul). as 
it takes very kindly to stony or rocky land, if accompanied 
by a subsoil drainage. The degree of decomposition, how- 
ever, of the a-a must be taken into consideration. The older 
the flow the lietter; I do not need to enlarge upon this, as 
everyone will easily understand my meaning, who has the 
least knowledge of the formation of this country. 

District of Puna. — The district of Puna is a vexed quest- 
ion to me. I cannot say positively if the decomposition of 
the a-(f has far enough advanced to ensure a permanent suc- 
cess to coffee, as beneath the surface, say three or four feet, 
the a-a is not packed with soil, but lies somewhat loose. The 
trees I saw, however, upon the whole, were very good indeed. 

The proper distance apart to plant coffee, must not be less 
than 9x9 feet, which gives 540 trees to the acre. This dis- 
tance ensures the light of day to circle round the tree. 

Grass lands are universally acknowledged to draw from 
the soil the food necessary for coffee, and plantations opened 
on old pastures liave always been unsatisfactory. Therefore 
it will be well to avoid lands which are overrun with Hilo 
grass. I am of opinion, however, that if Hilo grass has only 



43 

recently established itself on virgin lands, the harm cannot 
be great. 

Choicest Description of Land. — The choicest lands are 
those which are fern-clad and covered with bush or forest. 
I would also advise raising nnrseries of plants, and not to 
propagate from seedlings which have grown from seeds 
dropped ofl' the cotfee trees. Plants taken from a dense 
shade, are always weak, spindly and difficult to raise, whilst 
those propagated in nnrseries possess clusters of roots, and 
from the ver}^ beginning, when planted in the open, will 
form themselves into well shaped trees. 

After lining 9x9, the next work in the order of progression 
is to prepare the holes for transplanting These holes 
should, as in the case of cinchona, be dug beforehand, and 
can be done in any weather, thus facilitating planting when 
the proper season begins. 

The season for planting is during the rainy weather, and 
care must be taken not to plant until the ground is well 
saturated to a considerable depth. Plants put out in semi- 
dry soil are likely to fail. Coffee, to succeed financiall5% 
must be planted in the way described, in proper plantation 
form, and on a scale large enough to take advantage of 
machinery for the purpose of pulping and curing. 

Acreage and estimated Return — 1 should advise not 
planting less than 200 acres. This area will yield about 
3,000 quintals (one quintal 100 lbs.) of clean dry coffee, an- 
nually, allowing that each cotfee tree will yield an average 
of say three pounds per ti-ee. In making this estimate I 
take 500 trees per acre, whereas the total amount of trees to 
the acre planted 9x9 is actually 537. The proposition will 
stand thus: 500 trees per acre x 200= 100,000, the number of 
trees planted on 200 acres. 100,000x3=300,000, the num- 
ber of pounds annually returned. 

:o: 

COFFEE PLANTING IN HAWAII 



(Fkom a Pamphlet Issued in Honolulu, 1888.) 

Mr. W. J. Forsyth, a gentleman who has had large ex- 
perience in the coffee business in Ceylon and Central Amer- 
ica, and was employed by the Hawaiian Government for six 
months to visit various parts of the Islands with a view to 



44 

observe and examine localities, soil, and climate, and to re- 
port upon the suitability of lands for the cultivation of 
Cinchona and Coffee made a i-eport, which was published in 
the January number of the FUtufers Monthly, of 1SS8. 

As a result of his observations and the information he 
obtained, he was thoroughly persuaded that if the cultiva- 
tion of Coffee is entei-ed into in certain localities here, in an 
iDtelligent manner, following largely the methods, and using 
the machinery and appliances adopted in countries where 
coffee is most successfully produced, that in a few years 
coffee will become one of the important articles of export 
from these Islands, and a source of proht to those who en- 
gage in it. 

It is well known that these Islands have for many years 
produced coffee of the finest quality, but the business has 
been conducted in an unsystematic and irregular manner 
and by men of little or no experience in the business, and 
with none of the modern machinery and appliances for 
curing. 

The Plantation. — A plantation estaljlished in some favor- 
able locality, and capable of planting 200 acres, will carry 
100,000 trees. 500 trees to the acre being a fair average. 
After the fourth year an average annual yield of about 3 1I:)S. 
per tree may be expected. At 15 ceuts per pound the annual 
crop would return $45,000. 

Healthy trees will continue bearing for thirty years, and 
if in good soil and properly cultivated and pruned, the yield 
with continue with much uniformity during the whole 
period. 

The heaviest expense will be incurred before the first crop 
is harvested. Land must be procured, cleared, fenced, and 
planted; and the trees cultivated and pruned for four years. 
Houses for the managei-, workmen, and the mill must be 
built; machinery imported and erected. 

The total cost, from the starting ot the enterprise, until 
the first crop is harvested and ready tor market, is estimated 
at about $68,000. After the fourth year, the annual expenses 
should be about $25,000, and the average yield about as be- 
fore stated. 

Obstacles to be Met. — Upon a thorough and careful per- 
sonal examination of manv localities on these Islands where 



45 

coffee is growing, and from all the int'orniation that he has 
l)een able to obtain after diligent and searching investigation, 
Mr. Forsyth is satisfied that there are no obstacles in the 
way of successfnl growing and curing coffee in many portions 
of these Islands, which cannot be wholly overcome. 

The great bug-bear, which has for years deterred the in- 
vestment of capital in coffee culture in this country, has been 
fear of blight. 

The history of l)light in Ceylon is, that after an existence 
of some ten or fifteen years, doing great damage, it gradual- 
ly disappeared, and now the blight is troublesome only upon 
neglected estates, or in localities where the soil is poor, and 
is hardly counted as a factor in the production of coffee. 

'J'he experience in these Islands is similar. Al)out 1857-S 
the coffee industry had an apparently f)right fiitui'e. A num- 
ber of plantations were started, principally in Hanalei. 
Kauai, and in Kona, Hawaii, when the blight suddenly ap- 
peared, and in a very short time the production had almost 
ceased. The blight continued in unabated force for some 
fitteen years. Since that time a diminntion of its prevalence 
has been steadily going on, until now a blighted coffee tree 
is the exception and not the rule. 

Another cause of blight, which experience in other coun- 
tries has demonstrated, is that coffee planted near sea level, 
say less than 1000 feet above sea level, is much more subject to 
its ravages than at a greater elevation. The coffee planta- 
tions started at Hanalei. above refei-red to. were on the fiats 
in the valley, only a tew feet above sea level, and much of 
the Kona coffee was and is near the coast. Coffee now grow- 
ing on the mountain, back of Ivahuku on Oahu; at an eleva- 
tion of al)0ut 1000 feet; also at Makawao, Maui, at an eleva- 
tion of about ISOO feet; at Mr. J. M. Horner's at Hamakua, 
Hawaii, at an elevation of about 1300 feet: at Mr. W. H. 
Rickard's in the same district at an elevation of 1700 feet; 
at Onomea. Hawaii, at an elevation of 1 100 feet, and many trees 
in Kona, Hawaii, at an elevation of less than 1000 feet, are 
almost entirely free from l)light. 

At the residence of Dr Smith, in Ivoloa, Kauai, at an 
elevation of not more than 200 feet, coffee has been growing 
luxuriantly, bearing heav}^ crops, for a numbers of years, 
and showing no sign of blight. 



46 

Experience both hei'e and in otiier countries indi- 
cates that blight need no longer be counted as one of the 
serious obstacles to success in coffee culture. 

Wages and Expenses in Guatamala. — Another point 
which has been considered fatal to profitable coffee culture, 
is the high rate of wages ruling here, while we must com- 
plete with countries where the price of labor is much less. 

The difference is, to a great extent, more apparent than 
real. For example, in Guatamala, wages rule from 25 to 87 
cents per dny. Jn the first place the laborers are Indians, 
not habituated to stead}^ labor, and therefore do not accom- 
plish as much work in a day as an ordinary workman. 

Again: There is no system of controlling the laborers, 
and engagements to labor cannot be enforced. The Indian 
will not do any work unless he is paid in advance, from one 
half to three quarters of the amount which his wages will 
come to for the crop. 

Other difficulties which the Guatamala Coffee planter has 
to contend with, are totally lacking here, and these alone 
are amply sufficient to offset the actual difference in the 
price of labor. 

For example, the roads from the interior are simply trails. 
and most transportation has to be upon mule back; the aver- 
age cost of this transportation is about $2.00 per hundred 
pounds. A Government monoply rail road to the landing 
charges 60 cents per hundred pounds. A Government 
monopoly wharf and warehouse charges 30 cents per hundred 
pounds; lighterage from the wharf to the steamer is 32 cents 
per 100 pounds; export tax is 25 cents per 100 pounds; mak- 
ing a total cost of $3.47 or $69.40 per ton, for getting the 
coffee from the plantation on board of the vessel. This cost 
will be so low here that it may be called simply nominal. 

In spite of all these drawbacks, coffee culture is steadily 
increasing in Guatamala, is profitable to the planter, and is 
now the largest item of export, having amounted in 1886 to 
50,000,000 pounds. 

With the superior labor obtainable here; the absence of 
Government monopoly taxes; the employment of the best 
labor-saving machinery, and the large yield which the coffee 
tree produces, Hawaii, to day, offers a most promising field 
for profitable investment of capital in coffee culture. 



47 

Approximate Estimate of Establishing a Coffee Plantation of 200 
Acres in Extent, and carrying on Cultivation for Five 
Years; Together With Cost of Purchase of Addition- 
al 300 Acres. 



Ol'TLAV FIRST THREE YEARS. 

Purcliase of 500 acres of land, at $10 $ 5,000 00 

Clearing "200 " " " $25 5,000 00 

Manager's Cottage and accommodation for overseer and 50 laborers. . . 2,200 00 

Temporary Iron Roof for catching water 1,50 00 

Nursery for 120,000 plants, (ft] $8 per 1,000, cost of raising 960 00 

Holeing, 1 man to hole 60 holes per day, 18x18 square inches, wages $1 1.660 00 

Planting, 1 man 100 plants per day 1,000 00 

Transport of plants to field 200 00 

Purchase of tools 200 00 

20 Iron Tanks for water reservoir ,500 00 

Erecting above and cost of transport 200 00 

Two Coflfee Pulpers, steam 500 00 

Two do do hand 300 00 

Four Cisterns of stone properly cemented 300 00 

Lining 200 00 

Receiving Cisterns in field for measuring coffee, say four 8x8x2 wood . . 200 00 

Washing Machine 250 00 

Coir Matting say 500 00 

Formation of Barbeque 400 00 

Two Smoot's Peelers for peeling parchment and silver skin olT coffee . . 2,000 00 

Coffee iSizers 200 00 

Air Blast and Elevators 150 00 

Boiler & Engine 10 H Power 1,700 00 

Buildings for Mill and Store 4,000 00 

Cost of erecting Machinery, Engineer or Mechanic and 4 laborers for 

say 5 months 1.500 00 

Two miles of coffee spouting rolled and laid down for use, allowing 

;g60.00 to every 300 feet 2,100 00 

Shafting, belting, wheels & pulley estimated at 500 00 

Extra Mason labor ." 300 00 

Labor : Topping Coffee trees 100 00 

Handling or hand pruning .50 acres of coffee 4 times in the year, for 3 

years at the rate of 500 trees per man 600 00 

Pruning 50 acres 200 00 

Expense of up-keep or cleaning coffee estate for 3 years, cleaning every 

3 months at $1.50 per acre for each cleaning 3,600 00 

Purchase of 2 Horses or Mules 200 00 

Salary of Manager for 3 years at the rate of $200 per mouth 7,200 00 

Salary of Field overseer for same period @ $600 1,800 00 

Transport of Material from landing to Mill site say 1,000 00 

Purchase of coffee seed and planting of shade trees 600 00 

FOURTH YEAR. 
Picking maiden crop say 2ftj per tree, together with all other charges 

of curing 6 cts. pr lb 12,000 00 

Purchase of Coffee Bags 210 00 

Cleaning, Pruning, & Handling . 2,000 00 

Salary of Manager and Overseer 3,000 00 

Sundries '. 1,000 00 

FIFTH Y'EAR. 

Picking and cuiing a crop of 3,000 centals or say 300,000 ll)s. @ 6 cts . 18,000 00 

Salaries Manager c% Overseer 3,200 00 

Cleaning, Pruning, Handling 2,000 00 

Sundries 1,000 00 

Purcliase of Bags 315 00 

Total $89,995 00 



48 ■ 
ANALYSIS OF THE F0REG(3IN(I. 

FIRST YEAR. 

Purchase of Land, say 5,000 00 

Clearing, Holeing & Lining (3,860 00 

Nursery & Purchase of seed 1,160 00 

Salaries of Manager & Overseer 8.000 00 

Purchase of Tools, &g 200 00 

Houses, Manager and Laborers 2,200 00 

Planting 600 00 

10,(120 00 

SECOND YEAR. 

Planting, Handling and Pruning Coffee tree, cleaning and 

up-keep of Estate, and Salaries 6.70(1 (10 

THIRD YEAR. 

Cost of Mill, purchase of Machinery, i)lantiug and all 

charges in perfecting plants, including Salaries 21,855 00 

FOURTH YEAR. 
Cost of picking and caring 200,000 pounds of Cotfee at (J 

cents per lb 12,000 00 

Salaries, Upkeep, Pruning, Handling 6,210 00 

18.210 00 

FIFTH YEAR. 

Cost of picking and securing 300,000 pounds 18.000 00 

Salaries and up-keep of estate 6,210 00 2i.210 00 

Total 89,995 00 



APPROXIMATE RETURNS. 

By Sale of the first crop of coffee in the 4th year dating 

from time when coifee seed was iirst sown in Nursery. 

Product of Maiden Crop, say 200,000 Hj fa 15 cis 80.000 00 

Product of second Crop, ('5th vear.) sav 300,000 lbs., at 

15 cents '........; 45.000 00 

Total $75,000 00 

N. B.— The ^Nlill will have capacity to work a crop of (iOO,000 to 
800,000 pounds per anninii, and can be increased with but small ad- 
ditional cost; so that the whole of the ('otfee Cherry grown in South 
Kona (if that district were selected) could be cured at the Mill. 

: o : 

A VALUABLE TABLE. 



Nunil)enof trees contained in an acre, planted as follows 
9 ft. X 9 ft. = 537 trees per acre. 
8 " X 8 " = 680 " " " 

7 - X 8 " = 888 ' 

H - X 7 •• = 1087 ' 

() '• X 6 •• = 1210 

(i '^ X 5 " = 1452 " ■' ■• 
5 " X 4 " = 1742 '' " " 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



000 927 817 5 



